Tara the elephant has packed up her truck and said goodbye to her buddies at Twycross and headed off to pastures new as part of a breeding project.

Twycross Zoo's much-loved elephant is the first of her herd to make the journey to Blackpool Zoo as part of the new Project Elephant. This is aimed at increasing numbers of the endangered species.

Tara, who has lived at Twycross Zoo for 19 years, is one of the all-female herd of four elephants and they will all be moved to Blackpool in Lancashire where there is a specially designed three-acre enclosure providing a varied and naturalistic habitat for the newly-formed herd.

Visitors to Twycross have a few weeks left to see the rest of the herd Minbu, Noorjahan and Esha in their enclosure before they head north too.

Following 12 months of elephant-led training and meticulous planning by the Twycross conservation team, Tara was safely transported to the seaside resort in a specially created giant steel crate for transporting elephants, which weigh between 2.25 to 5.5 tonnes. It was loaded on to a lorry for the 127-mile journey to Blackpool.

Now the Twycross Zoo team is focused on getting the rest of the herd ready to follow her. Meanwhile, Tara, the 19-year-old Asian elephant, has been getting to know her new best friend, Blackpool Zoo's own elephant - Kate.

Dr Sharon Redrobe, Twycross Zoo's chief executive, said: "It's been a very emotional week for the Twycross Zoo family. We are so excited that our girls have the opportunity to be part of the new Project Elephant and Blackpool's endangered animals breeding programme, but we are all going to miss her.

"Tara's smooth move is a huge achievement for our team and we hope to see Minbu, Noorjahan and Esha settled in the next few months too."

The move means there will not have any elephants at the zoo, which 20 miles from Burton on the A444.

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Asian elephants are one of the largest land mammals on the planet but the species is currently threatened in the wild by habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation leading to them being listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.

As a result, Asian elephant populations have declined by at least 50 per cent in the last three generations.

It is hoped the all-female herd from Tywcross will breed with the male elephants at Blackpool. Twycross Zoo experts are hoping to make the celebrated species thrive again through the breeding project, said a spokesman for the zoo.

Dr Redrobe said: "Our girls will only go when they are ready, and so our visitors can be sure to see them for a little while yet.

"When they do all move we know they are going to be very well looked after by the Blackpool Zoo team. As for their enclosure, it's a large site so we will look to redevelop but can't plan the next phase until our girls are safely in their new home."

Visitors still have time to say goodbye to the remaining elephants as zoo bosses said they will still be there until the end of February half term.

Asian elephants can live up to 60 years and are slightly smaller than their African cousin.

Twycross Zoo is open to the public from 10am to 5pm and more information is available by visiting www.twycrosszoo.org or calling 0844 4741777.

Tara the elephant has now moved to Twycross Zoo (Image: Twycross Zoo)

What is Project Elephant?

The elephants' new home, Project Elephant, is a new multi-million pound specially designed three-acre enclosure at Blackpool Zoo, which will provide a varied and naturalistic habitat for the newly formed herd.

The Twycross elephants' home boasts a number of elephant friendly features including outside there is 2.5-acre landscaped paddock populated with trees and natural shrubbery, a deep outdoor pool where the elephants can submerge and a water cannon for hot summer days.

Inside the house itself there is soft ground with deep sand and rubber, hanging bundles of food, heaters to mimic the temperature of the elephants' natural home range, more tree stumps and an indoor rain machine which uses recycled water.

The herd will also have 24-hour access to the outdoor spaces, so they can walk around and interact socially with each other as they please.